


Your Heart Doesn't Stop

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-12
Updated: 2010-09-12
Packaged: 2017-10-11 17:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/114841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meeting the entire Weasley clan is a terrifying experience for Pansy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Heart Doesn't Stop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Persephone33](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Persephone33).



> Written for the "de-age (mental)" box on my [hc_bingo](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/) card. Also written for [persephone33,](http://persephone33.livejournal.com) who prompted "dinner date" for the two pairings. It's more of a Pansy/Ron story, though.

"You're out of your mind."

Pansy stared at Ron in horror. It was bad enough she was dating a Weasley, and it had taken her forever and a day to even admit that it was dating and not just really hot shagging every possible chance she got. Now he was thinking of making this _serious_ and introducing her to his family. He wanted them to acknowledge that things had changed since school, and that she was every bit as wonderful as he thought she was. They both worked in the Department of Accidental Magic, and it had started out as simply tolerating each other. A drunken office party had led to an amazing one night stand, and Ron's honorable side refused to leave it at that.

Ron slipped his hands around her waist. "Pansy," he said in a reasonable tone, wheedling her. "We're both grownups. We know what we want. Right?"

"Yeah. You and me naked on the bed."

"It's just one dinner."

"With your family. Your _entire_ family. I'll feel like a moron." She pitched her voice higher than it usually was. "So what do you do, Parkinson?" she asked in that tone, mimicking Ginny's imperious manner of speaking. "Oh, that's right," she continued, "you pretend to have a heart."

"My sister holds a wicked grudge and she has a nasty temper." Ron sighed. "If it helps, I don't think she's supposed to be there."

"No, it doesn't help. Your parents will be there and half the universe's population of Weasleys. It'll be an ambush! I feel like I'm five years old again and trying to impress my grandmother!"

Ron let one hand slide down to caress her rear. "I'll have a reward for you..."

"You bloody well better," she groused. "Or maybe I'll just snog you senseless during dinner and shock them all."

Laughing, Ron slid his other hand down to cup her rear and press her hips against his. "How about I give you a little bit of a reward now for just considering going to dinner?"

Pansy wound her arms around his neck. "You owe me a fancy dinner. Someplace showy and expensive and flashy."

"You don't need a flashy dinner."

"No, but I've always wanted to show off if I had a handsome man." She gave him a teasing smile, the one that had worked on all her relatives since she was three to get what she wanted. "You most certainly count."

"All right," he said, caving just as Pansy thought he would. He seized her mouth in a kiss. "One flash dinner in exchange for meeting my family for dinner."

They never actually made it out of his flat to go out to dinner that night as planned.

***

Ginny came to visit Ron at the Ministry before she was scheduled to go in for the practice session at the pitch. Parkinson wasn't in, so she wouldn't have to pretend to be nice to her brother's girlfriend. Ron had asked her to be nice, but she couldn't forget the way Pansy had always been nasty at school. She picked up a crystalline object on Ron's desk and started rolling it around in her hands. She was a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, and was the reserve seeker at times. The round object was larger than a snitch and much smaller than a quaffle, but was still easy enough to toss and catch to pass the time until Ron got back to his desk. She knew he was going to ask her to be nice when Pansy visited the Burrow, and she already had a price in mind: a date she could bring to the upcoming charity ball that the Harpies' owner was throwing. Ever since she had broken things off with Harry, no one had wanted to date her. It had been just fine with her for the first year or two, but now it was just ridiculous. She hadn't done anything sinister, they simply didn't suit.

Ron came back in with a large box full of artifacts he had confiscated and needed to register properly. He grinned at the sight of Ginny waiting for him. "Sorry 'bout that. I didn't realize how long it was going to take me to get all this together."

"It's all right. I'm not due at the pitch for another two hours anyway." She grinned at Ron and sat down, the crystalline object still in her hands. "So what horrid thing are you going to ask me to do?"

Ron sighed. "Ginny, it's not horrid to hope that you and Pansy can at least be civil to each other this weekend."

"Well, I wasn't planning to be at the Burrow this weekend, so I can be perfectly civil," Ginny said with a grin. Ron sighed and scrubbed at his face with his hands. "Look, Ron. I don't see what you see in her, but I'll accept that right now you're happy and she's not completely horrid. But that doesn't mean that _I_ have to like her, and we don't have to go about shopping for shoes or painting our toenails or whatever it is that she does in her spare time."

"Ginny..."

"Anyway, I can do you a favor if you do me a favor."

"What's that?"

"The Harpies' charity ball is in three weeks and I still don't have a date. I don't want a repeat of last year's, what with all those comments about how desperate and awful I seem. So find me a bloke to go to the ball with, and I'll be the bestest friend Parkinson never had. Deal?"

Ron blew out a breath. As far as he was concerned, he was getting off easy. "Sure thing, Gin." He grinned. "Have fun at the pitch."

She grinned and deposited the crystalline object back on Ron's desk. "Thanks. I'll see you next week, then."

***

Molly Weasley was not quite the dragon lady that Pansy had feared that she would be. If anything, it was worse than that.

Molly Weasley was a hugger. And she insisted on hugging Pansy. A lot.

She was too cloying for Pansy's taste; she had grown up facing her parents across a formal dining room, with pinches and pushes and distant looks. She wasn't used to a kitchen full of loud Weasleys crowded into the tiny space, wasn't used to being jostled and chatted to about her day.

Truth be told, Pansy was almost afraid to like it.

Ron rolled and tumbled with her across their bed afterward, grinning. "Mum loved you, you know. She doesn't offer up a raspberry icing cake for just anyone."

Pansy poked him in the side. "I was terrified of all those hugs! I thought she'd smother me!"

"She'll want to fatten you up, you realize," Ron said with a laugh, nuzzling her neck. "Food is love in the Weasley household, you know."

"My hips will never withstand the onslaught," Pansy sighed.

Ron grasped those hips in question. "I'll give you a workout, I promise." He grinned saucily at her. "And I do believe I owe you some affection after the torture I put you through tonight?"

"Well... Maybe it wasn't _complete_ torture," Pansy conceded.

"I did promise you a flash dinner," he reminded her, helping to peel off her blouse. He dropped kisses along the nape of her neck. "Oh, would the Harpies' ball in three weeks count? I have the tickets Gin gave us. She needs a date for it, though."

"Are you kidding?"

"Not at all. No bloke's brave enough to wander in that direction in case Harry decides to give him what for."

Pansy snorted. "It's obvious that she's the one that broke things off. He still moons about her half the time."

Ron laughed, lips against her spine, kissing that sensitive spot between her shoulder blades. "The other half of the time, he's too busy working. But enough about that, love."

"You know, I've just had a horrible thought..."

"Uh oh." Ron stopped and mock glared at Pansy. "I know that tone of voice. What is it?"

"Draco is my best friend." She waved off Ron's dark expression. "I don't ask you to love him, okay? But he is, and he's single right now. Things never got on well with Astoria, much to his mother's dismay. So he could take your sister to the ball. It gets her off the market for a night, and I'd feel better about him being social again."

"She hates him more than she hates you."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "She never asked you to find someone she'd actually _like_ did she?"

Ron paused and tried to think over the conversation he had with Ginny. "No, I don't believe she did..." he began slowly.

"Then it works," Pansy declared with a smile. "So we'll go together as a double date for the ball."

"Sounds perfect," Ron said as he bent down to kiss her neck again. He would figure out how to break it to Ginny later.

***

Ginny was _furious._ "I thought you actually gave a damn! I'm your baby sister!"

Ron sighed and just hoped that the contents of his office would remain intact. He still hadn't finished identifying or categorizing all of the confiscated items that he had gotten the week and a half before. He eyed Ginny warily. She was holding that crystalline paperweight in her hands; it was charmed to repel Dark Magic, but it was weighty and would still make a sizable dent in his skull if she threw it at him. "Ginny, he's single, you're single, and it's just for a dinner. It doesn't have to mean anything."

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "And after all that he did before the war, and all his family was about..."

"It's over," Ron said tightly. "A great many things had happened in the war, and after. Not all of it was very nice. But the Ministry feels he'd made up for all that. That's good enough for me."

"It's because you're shagging Parkinson, isn't it?" Ginny said, voice tight. "That's why."

"I think we should talk about this later, all right? The ball is next Friday. What other option do you have?" he asked, hoping she would just let it drop.

Ginny let out an inarticulate cry of frustration and threw his charmed paperweight directly into the box of confiscated items. There was a massive explosion, and both were thrown from their positions. Ron fetched up under his desk, and Ginny rolled right into another box of confiscated items. Those exploded as well, sending her right across the room into the remnants of the first box.

When the smoke cleared and Ron's colleagues arrived to help put out the fires and contain the damage, Ron warily got up from behind his desk. He had a cut on his forehead but otherwise felt fine. Ginny wasn't moving, lying face down over shards of glass. "Ginny? Ginny!"

Hands pulled him back, and his colleagues helped to roll her over and check on her. "She'll have to go to Mungo's to be certain she's all right," Pansy said, holding his arm. "Come on. I'll go with you."

Ron looked at her with a pained expression. "What if she doesn't wake up?"

"She's as stubborn as you are," Pansy told him wryly. "She'll wake up."

It took three days, but she did.

Ginny looked up in confusion at everyone gathered around her. "What's going on?" she asked, then frowned at the sound of her own voice.

"There was an accident in my office, Gin," Ron said, reaching out to grasp her hand tightly. "I'm so sorry..."

She frowned at Ron and looked around at everyone. "What happened to you? You don't look the same."

"It's only a little head wound," he said dismissively. "I'll be fine."

"Everyone out," a Healer said. "We'll need to examine her. But if everything goes well, she should be able to go home tomorrow."

Ron grinned at Ginny. "Don't worry. I'll pick you up tomorrow. You'll still make it to the ball on Friday, then."

Absorbed by her physical exam, Ginny didn't even have time to ask him more details.

***

"Ron, dear," Molly Weasley said, pulling him toward her before the Harpies' charity ball. "You never did say what kind of spell damage happened."

"The healer at Mungo's wasn't entirely sure, actually," Ron admitted. He allowed his mother to straighten his bow tie. "Gin seemed okay when I checked up on her yesterday."

"She's been on bedrest all week, Ronald," Molly sighed. "But she keeps looking around like she's lost."

"Okay, well, Mum, she was in the middle of an _explosion._ I still jump at the sound of car doors slamming."

Molly nodded, somewhat appeased. "I suppose it's just that she's been so quiet. It's not like her."

Ron grinned. "In that case, we all might have a lovely time tonight."

Molly swatted his head. "Ronald, you be nice to your sister. She hasn't been to practice all week."

"Ginny probably misses Quidditch something awful." Ron gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. "That's probably it. I promise we'll get her to unwind a bit."

Ginny didn't come down when Draco arrived, and Ron asked Pansy to check in on her. Ginny was staring at her closet when Pansy walked in hesitantly. "Oi. Ginny. I thought you'd be ready by now? Draco's here to take you to the ball."

She blinked at Pansy in surprise. "I thought he would have hated my family," she said, looking almost too young and lost.

Pansy swallowed a nasty reply. Ginny didn't seem to be putting it on at all, but genuinely seemed to be confused by everything. "What do you remember of the accident, Ginny?"

"I... I don't, really. I don't remember much of anything. It's all fuzzy." She faced Pansy with a furrow in her brow. "You hated us, too, didn't you? At school?" She sat down on the bed. "I can't remember too much clearly after school. It's just... It doesn't feel lost, but that it doesn't make sense to me. I remember things, but they feel all muddled up. You're dating Ron, but that doesn't sound right. And I don't know why it doesn't sound right, and nothing makes sense."

Pansy sat down beside Ginny and took her hand in hers. "We were all stupid in school, Ginny." She remembered Ginny vaguely from school, mostly as a hanger-on to Potter and that crowd. If anything she seemed to be acting like that again. Pnasy stilled after a moment. "You feel like you're back in school, don't you?" she asked quietly. Ginny nodded quietly, staring at the floor. "I promise, we've all grown up since then. Everybody said stupid things back then, and we all thought we were invincible." She gave Ginny's hand a squeeze. "Your brother's a good man. I'm lucky to have found him."

Ginny looked up in surprise. "Really? You really think that?"

"Yeah, I do." Pansy gave Ginny a soft smile. Perhaps whatever happened to her in the war made her so loud and angry all the time. Or dealing with the idiots at the Prophet saying things about her. "Your Mum's okay. Hugs too tight, though."

Ginny laughed, and it lit up her face. "That's how you know she likes you."

Pansy gave Ginny a smile, then stood. "C'mon, then. Let's get you dressed up for this ball."

"Did Draco grow up, too?" she asked quietly. She looked like she was trying to hide her interest, which Pansy found fascinating. She didn't think Draco ever realized Ginny had once had a crush on him in school.

"Yeah. He actually did."

***

Ginny was much more subdued during dinner than Pansy remembered her being, but this turned out to be a good thing. She sat down next to Draco with a girlish smile and they wound up talking about Quidditch all night. Pansy was almost sure that she would have clung to her prejudices even weeks ago. Ron seemed to be genuinely glad that they were getting on, if only because it meant that he and Pansy could duck out after the main course and spend time alone on one of the balconies. Ron looked around and pulled Pansy behind one of the potted pieces of shrubbery to snog her thoroughly enough to get her panting for more. He slipped his hand beneath the top of her dress as a tease, getting them both excited. "Should we really leave your sister alone?" Pansy gasped, tracing circles through his clothing.

"You said he'd be a gentleman. Since she's being a lady and won't hex his face off, I think we're safe."

Some time later, they rearranged their clothing and made their way back into the ballroom. They couldn't find Draco or Ginny anywhere. "Where do you suppose they went?" Ron wondered, looking around the ballroom. He was starting to grow alarmed, but then he heard Pansy's laughter. "What's so funny?"

"I do believe they had the same idea that we did."

Frowning, Ron turned and looked in the same direction that she was. Draco was back in the ballroom, and Ginny was stepping back as well. Her hair was down now, pins all undone, and a bright flush covered her cheeks. Draco smirked in Ron's general direction, then brought Ginny out to the dance floor. They swayed together, arms tightly around one another. Ginny seemed happy, which probably just saved Draco's life.

He scrubbed at his face and extended his arm to Pansy. "Shall we dance?"

Pansy grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

They swayed together for the dance, and Ron kept his arms tight around her. "See? This isn't so bad," Ron said. "So it'll be great when the entire family is all together for hols."

Pansy nearly stopped dancing, never mind that they were in the middle of the dance floor. "Didn't I meet them all?"

"Not hardly," Ron snorted. "You just met my parents and George and Charlie and Ginny. There's Bill and Fleur and their kids, and Percy and Audrey and their kids. Not to mention all of the cousins on the Weasley and Prewett sides..." He noted that Pansy looked to be hyperventilating. "Pansy, it'll be fine, I promise. They're going to love you as much as I do."

Burying her face in his chest, Pansy shook her head and tried to keep from hysterically laughing. "You owe me _big,_ Ron Weasley. Just the two brothers of yours were terrifying enough."

"Mum likes you," Ron reminded her gently, stroking her hair. "That's the important part."

"Oh, Ron, there's going to be _so many_ of them..."

"What if you were a Weasley, too?" Ron asked, voice hardly more than a whisper in her ear. Now Pansy really went still. He dragged her hand to go through the pocket of his dress robes, making it close around a small ring box there. "I was kind of distracted on the balcony earlier," he admitted with a wry smile. "You just looked too damn good for me to pay attention to asking you properly."

Pansy stood up on the tips of her tones and kissed him on the mouth with all the fervor she could muster. "Yes, Ron," she said, a sloppy grin on her face. "No matter how you ask, yes."

He grinned as well and fell to his knees right in the middle of the dance floor. He slipped the ring onto Pansy's finger, aware that all the society columnists were snapping photos and taking notes. That didn't matter. He had Pansy's smile and her promise to be his wife. That was the only thing that mattered.

The End.


End file.
